


Tradition

by RobronSugdenDingle



Series: 31 days of Christmas 2019 [11]
Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Homelessness, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-11
Updated: 2019-12-11
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:08:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21758071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RobronSugdenDingle/pseuds/RobronSugdenDingle
Summary: Aaron has his own tradition. Every year the day before Christmas, he'll go out to Hotten and sit down with the homeless. This year is particularly tough because the weather is freezing....
Relationships: Aaron Dingle/Robert Sugden
Series: 31 days of Christmas 2019 [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1559164
Comments: 1
Kudos: 31





	Tradition

**Author's Note:**

> This is based off my own weird tradition. I've been doing this for a couple of years now. I'll go out the 23rd of December, put money in a homeless persons cup and sit and chat with them. It's so important to spread as much joy as you can during the festive period because other people won't be as lucky as you are. Winters are harsh for people who live out on the streets and sometimes all they actually want is a bit of company, even sharing a smile might make someones day

  
Ever since he was twenty, Aaron had a pre Christmas tradition. Others drank, others held their annual Christmas party with friends days before actual christmas and others had a special lunch. Aaron, on the other hand, always chose the day before Christmas eve to fulfill his tradition. 

He had been doing this for seven years now, at the ripe age of 27. He would drive out to Hotten, walk around the freezing cold streets until he spotted a homeless person and sit down with them. The looks he got from strangers passing by didnt bother him anymore, it was christmas and these people had nothing. He had been in a similar situation before when he was younger and it was horrible. Thankfully he had family to turn to though. These people had absolutely nothing.

And while there were some fakers out there who begged for money...Aaron knew exactly who was faking and who wasnt. He sat down beside a woman of mixed race, she surprisingly knew a lot of English for only being in the country for five years. He smiled at her, stuck a pound in her cup and talked. She chatted to him about her story, how she had come to the country five years ago and struggled to find a job, but she would rather have no job in a safe country rather than die in the middle of a war. 

Homeless shelters sucked. They were frightening. They werent even warm. That was her conclusion and why she stayed on the street instead.

"You have family, yes?"

Aaron nodded.

"I have a husband and a son..."

She smiled at that and Aaron wished he could stay there all day for her, but he knew he was messing up her chances of getting money put in her cup, so he wished her a merry Christmas and she thanked him for that and clasped his hands in his and kissed his knuckles twice.

"You're a very kind man"

And he only smiled and wished that everything would get better for her soon.

And that's what he would do with everyone who was homeless, well, the real homeless people. It was hard to identify, but he couldn't help but roll his eyes when he saw a young ginger man who looked freshly shaved trying to pretend to be homeless. He identified him closer and knew he was faking it when the young man put down his cup and shifted to the side so he could pull out his iPhone from his back pockets. Seriously...how lazy could he be? Go get a job or something...apply for benefits...don't mock the homeless.

He chatted to a bearded man who was shivering and Aaron offered to get him a coffee but the guy told him that coffee made his digestive system run like crazy and he spent forever trying to get this sheltered spot. The man told him how it had all started, with his sister having a baby and then he was kicked out because the baby needed space, days after he was fired from his job and everything just went downhill over and over...

The blanket on the mans legs moved and Aaron jumped in fright and the man chuckled and moved the blanket so he could reveal his dog. A scruffy looking Yorkshire terrier barked once at Aaron but leaned into his touch when he clapped it.

"He's cute. What's his name then?"

"This is Clive, he's all I've got left aren't you?"

Aaron chuckled at that. For a second he thought the man had said Clyde and he was about to scream to the heavens above that it was a coincidence because you know...Clyde!

Clive moved so he could sit in Aaron's lap and the dog licked at his face over and over until Aaron laughed and the dog moved off of him again. The homeless guy, Timothy was his name, handed Aaron back the pound that he had put in his cup earlier and he sighed.

"I'm sorry to ask but...I dont want to give this spot up. You wouldnt mind nipping to the pound shop and getting dog food would you?"

"Oh, yeah of course! Be back in a sec"

Aaron walked literally two steps and he was at the pound shop. Yes, the sheltered spot was outside a pound shop...

He bought the dog food and walked back out and Timothy took it and opened it and allowed Clive to have a feast. They chatted some more, wished each other a merry christmas and Aaron said his goodbyes after wishing him luck for the future.

By the end of the day, he had sat down and chatted with eight more people. He only had a tenner to spare for them unfortunately. He had to walk by the pound shop again to get back to his car and he stopped when he saw an ambulance on the pavement. He heard a dog bark, looked at it and realised it was Clive. 

And then he saw the white sheet and ran in the direction towards his car.

......................

When Robert returned home from work, he already had a massive headache, but nothing that a glass of wine wouldn't fix. He finally finished work, Liv would call them soon to update how she was doing with her mum and then when Aaron came back from Christmas present shopping, they would collect Seb from Chas and have the rest of the night all together.

Everything was perfect!

And then he got a call from...someone and was told to go collect Aaron from the police station.

........................

"What the hell happened?!"

Aaron looked down at his feet in embarrassment and refused to look up at his husband. He didnt want Robert to see his puffy eyes, didnt want Robert to see that he had done nothing but cry the past few hours. He heard Robert apologise to the police and then was dragged out and shoved in Robert's car.

"Aaron what the hell are you playing at?! Tomorrows Christmas eve...we're supposed to be saving up for a kid and here you are, getting something else shoved on your record!"

"Shut up..."

"No I won't! You know I've done three days worth of work today just so I can spend all my Christmas eve with you and Seb? If I didnt do that, I'd be working Christmas day! I thought you were going Christmas shopping anyway!"

And to Robert's surprise (and horror) Aaron said nothing. When he heard nothing, he faced Aaron and softened immediately. Because Aaron's eyes filled with tears and he eventually pulled him in for a hug and sighed.

"Sorry. I didnt mean to shout...I dont get it...what's happened?"

"Someone died today..."

So that was how Robert ended up finding out about Aaron's tradition and the reasoning for his arrest. He smacked a random person on the street for saying 'good riddance' and punched him until his lip bleed. Robert told his husband that he was proud of what he did (not necessarily the arrested part) and then started the car and began driving. Aaron saw that they werent heading back to the village and he raised an eyebrow.

"What are you doing?"

"We're going...to do a bit of christmas shopping..."

Christmas shopping, turned out to be a trip to the shop that was closing down. Robert had enough money on him to buy nine blankets and Aaron smiled when he realised what the blankets were for. They went around the people Aaron had stopped by that day and the last person turned out to be the mixed race women Aaron had seen first.

She smiled at Aaron and gratefully took the blanket and kissed Robert's knuckles like she had did to Aaron earlier.

"You have a very nice husband"

...............

The car ride home was silent. Robert drove through the long road ahead with one hand on the wheel and Christmas music playing on the radio at the lowest volume. Aaron sighed and sniffled.

"I...I feel bad that we didn't get to more people..."

"Aaron, you're not Santa. You can't be in every place at once...ok? We can make a toast tonight, to..."

"Timothy"

"Ok. A toast to Timothy it is"

Aaron smiled and stroked Robert's shoulder once. He couldn't believe how lucky he was, to have a husband who would support him in his weird traditions, despite knowing about it for two seconds. Robert drove the car through the village, into their driveway and the radio switched itself off, leaving the couple in complete silence.

Aaron moved to get out of the car but Robert took his wrist in his hand and stopped him from doing so.

"What is it?"

"Can we just...sit here for a second?"

Aaron nodded. Of course he would. He would sit there for a million years if Robert asked him to. Eventually, after a couple of seconds in silence, Robert turned to Aaron with a small smile and he took his hand in his.

"Have I ever told you how amazing you are?"

"You've mentioned it once or twice"

"Yeah but I mean it though. Everytime. I cant believe you...you're actually the kindest person I know...and it annoys me because the surrogate wont see that the way I do..."

"Rob...who cares what they think about me? Obviously it matters...but it doesnt matter how long this takes us...as long as we do it together. Right?"

Robert pulled him in for a kiss and smiled.

"Right. Together always"

**Author's Note:**

> Thoughts?
> 
> Obviously I didnt actually go through an experience like this, I'm fortunate enough to have never witnessed anything like Aaron did with Timothy.
> 
> Something I was gonna add in but I didnt because it's so unrealistic?
> 
> The dog ends up at Aaron and Robert's door on Christmas day and they keep him.


End file.
